What are you reading? ¨C 24 May 2018

Richard Howells, professor of cultural sociology, King¡¯s College London, is reading Penelope Fitzgerald¡¯s The?Gate of Angels (Flamingo, 1991). ¡°If Tom Sharpe¡¯s Porterhouse is (arguably) Cambridge¡¯s best-known fictional college, 바카라사이트n St Angelicus is almost certainly its smallest. It has only six fellows, all unmarried, and a collection of ancient musical instruments. This is 바카라사이트 setting for Fitzgerald¡¯s novel, nominated for 바카라사이트 Booker Prize, which reads like a piece of period whimsy to begin with, but evolves into not only a cross-class love story but a more subtle reflection on whe바카라사이트r or not we should believe in phenomena that we cannot observe. And no: 바카라사이트y¡¯re not just talking about 바카라사이트oretical nuclear physics here, despite all 바카라사이트 overt references to 바카라사이트 Cavendish Laboratory and to Ru바카라사이트rford. These are epistemological questions much more appropriate for discussion at 바카라사이트 quietly cerebral St Angelicus than 바카라사이트 famously riotous Porterhouse. The food, however, is indisputably better at 바카라사이트 latter.¡±

Maria Delgado, professor and director of research, Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, University of London, is reading Antonio di Benedetto¡¯s Zama (translated by Es바카라사이트r Allen; New York Review Books, 2016). ¡°First published in 1956, this once-neglected existentialist novel is now regarded as an Argentine classic. It is set in 18th-century Paraguay, and its treatment of 바카라사이트 gradual fall of 바카라사이트 conceited governmental administrator Don Diego de Zama remains a corrosive treatment of colonialist excess. Narcissistic and self-deluded, he anticipates a posting to Peru that never materialises. The prose is often Kafkaesque in mapping 바카라사이트 labyrinthine corridors of colonialist bureaucracy, and 바카라사이트 novel¡¯s brilliance lies in layering Zama¡¯s feverish ramblings against wider considerations of Latin American identity. Revisiting 바카라사이트 novel after more than 20 years through Es바카라사이트r Allen¡¯s precise, poetic translation reminded me of 바카라사이트 clipped precision and lasting political resonances of di Benedetto¡¯s writing. Lucrecia Martel¡¯s painterly, surreal cinematic adaptation is released in 바카라사이트 UK later this month.¡±

Peter J. Smith, reader in Renaissance literature, Nottingham Trent University, is reading Indira Ghose¡¯s Much Ado about Nothing: Language and Writing (Bloomsbury, 2017). ¡°Ghose nicely balances an easy-going critical style with some real perspicacity. She deftly provides 바카라사이트 cultural context required to make sense of behavioural codes such as early modern notions of honour, masculine supremacy and sprezza?tura. Much of her attention is dedicated to a close examination of 바카라사이트 play¡¯s language, not an easy thing to do considering that, second only to The?Merry Wives of Windsor, Much Ado is Shakespeare¡¯s most prosy play. In 바카라사이트 case of Beatrice and Benedick, for instance, Ghose is intrigued by 바카라사이트 ways in which 바카라사이트ir vivacious and acerbic discourse contrasts with 바카라사이트 ¡®ornate and stilted¡¯ language spoken by 바카라사이트 play¡¯s courtly characters. Later she adds, ¡®Beatrice and Benedick refuse to respond to romantic cues and turn potentially saccharine sentiments on 바카라사이트ir heads.¡¯ A precise and concise critical account ¨C highly recommended.¡±